△ AQUTOP cosmetics

△ Visit to an AQUTOP store in a department store

Founded in 2018, Paran Trade is a new export enterprise established by two entrepreneurs in their 40s who have previous experiences in entertainment and event planning. Amidst a recent boom of K-beauty and expansion of Korean beauty product sales in the worldwide market, the company was founded based on a global marketing strategy to sell excellent beauty products of Korea through famous celebrities and social media influencers in a particular country in collaboration with local entertainment companies.

A representative of tradeKorea’s CBT Matching Team received an inquiry from a Thai buyer in June 2018. The buyer is a distributor and seller of Korean cosmetics in Thailand with the concept of “products selected by dermatologists of Korea (Seoul),” and carries out product demonstrations and promotions through famous Thai celebrities. In particular, a well-known Thai anchor takes part in the operation of the company, which also sells its own brand of cosmetics. The buyer requested recommendations on “brands with a great amount of SKU but that are not yet widely known,” and in turn tradeKorea introduced AQUTOP products whose overseas sales rights are owned by Paran Trade.

Though eager to conclude its first trade agreement with a buyer, Paran Trade’s export was not all that easy because neither of the founders had previous knowledge in trading or proficiency in foreign languages. They had important similarities with the buyer, especially its concept of “beauty product marketing through celebrities,” however, from the initial trade discussion stage, they had no other option but to ask a great number of questions in the entire process of unit cost quotation, preparation of shipping documents, contract and delivery, during which they learned, made errors, revised, and proceeded.

The representative of tradeKorea’s CBT Matching Team met with Paran Trade for nine times to help conclude a deal with the buyer and also exchanged dozens of phone calls. The Thai buyer eventually visited Korea and checked out shops within department stores where AQUTOP products are being sold before making a commitment for purchase on the spot.

Paran Trade has completed the final shipment of products while the Thai buyer is actively promoting AQUTOP products through production of its own PR videos and local launching shows.

Based on this export deal, Paran Trade expects additional exports to other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia. Moreover, it plans to actively use tradeKorea for launching of a new brand in Thailand.